Park Model
mobile homes
a great way to live cheaply
Retire to live in park model mobile homes? If you
are thinking trailer park, think again. This a great way of living
cheaply, whether it be your primary residence or summer or winter home.
Our Story
We visit good friends in Central Oregon every
summer. In fact that is where we would be living except for the harsh
winters.
Our friends, Doug and Judy Anderson, have a spacious home set
in 6 acres of pine trees. They visit family and us in Arizona every
March to watch the Seattle Mariners play in spring training.
November 2009, they purchased a park
model mobile home in Mesa, Arizona about an hours drive from
our home.They now are enjoying a second home, they will spend 3 to 4
months a year in Arizona.
All done in a very frugal manner, and hopefully
this will give you another option to consider for living very well and
very cheaply living.
They paid $15,000 for a used
home, that is no
longer mobile, in a huge, 1000 units, park model mobile home village.
We, both couples, tore out the carpet, replaced it with a hardwood
floor system and repainted the entire unit.
For a total of about $500 it is looking great and
has opened my eyes to another way to enjoy frugal retirement living. I
want to share it with you.
It is 40 feet long and 12 feet wide. Giving it
about 33% more space than we had on the RV we called home for 7 years.
It is not living cheap it is living cheaply
Do not dismiss this as trailer park
living.
Far from it...the complex they chose (after a lot of research I might add)
is well located and has about 10% of its spaces set aside for RV's.
The rest are park model mobile home units that are fixed to the ground.
Here is what you will find at a typical RV Retirement park. Think you will be bored?
- 2 swimming pools
- 2 outdoor Jacuzzis
- A very well equipped wood shop
- Scrapbooking clubs
- 24 hour security guards
- Church services with a choir
- Hiking club
- Lapidary workshop
- Computer room
- Softball
- Bocce ball
- Pickle Ball
- Tennis
- Silversmithing
- Dance lessons
- Weekly dances
- Weekly cookouts
- Shopping trips
- Workout facility
I trust them when they say there is more than enough to keep them as
busy as they want to be. It is a very active place.There is also a lot
of parks to choose from, there are 52 parks in the local area some as
large as 2,000 units.
As with all frugal retirement living lifestyles,
they and their neighbors continually congratulate each other on how
well they live on such little money. They are very pleased with their
purchase which will afford them an inexpensive second home.
About 20% of the residents are "fulltimers" so
this is a viable lifestyle for year round living.
Think of the reverse situation if you spend
winters in a warm location. Buy a park model mobile home in a location
with cold winters and spend your summers there.
This is exactly what we considered, buying a park
model in Oregon, last year. The unit overlooking the water was 10 years
old and priced at $18,000.
Please consider living in park model mobile homes
as a viable way of living cheaply.
What makes a park model mobile home
We have all been behind one at
one time or
another. With a pilot car warning us of the wide load ahead of you.
They are made up to 45 feet long and most new homes are 12 feet wide.
They usually make only one trip in their life, to a park model
mobilehome village.
There are other options...if you have a tract of
land many persons haul such a unit, usually placing the unit atop a
concrete slab, and live on their property. The prefab home market is
huge, and will continue to grow as more people look for ways for living
cheaply.
"Double wides" up to 24 feet are available, split
in half for transportation. Get a septic tank, drill a well and you are
all set if power is available to your land.
If it is not, we lived quite nicely on 12 volts
with the energy required to charge the batteries provided by solar
panels and a wind generator...folks there a lot of ways to skin this
cat called frugal living, hopefully our experiences will give you the
hope to try this way of life. Here is further info on off the grid living.
Where can you enjoy this type of living cheaply?
The obvious places to find park model mobile homes
is the warm weather sites, with Arizona and Florida leading the way
number wise. You can enjoy this lifestyle on the water, lake or ocean,
or on the beach.
There are a growing number of park model mobile
home communities in the northern climes, as people are looking for ways
to live cheaply and still enjoy their summers or live year round. The
park we looked at in Central Oregon had 75% full time residents.
So it is just a matter of fitting what you want to
do and afford to where you want to do it.
Costs for park model mobile home living
In addition to the initial outlay for your unit,
you may or may not own the land your unit sits on...much like a condo.
Doug and Judy pay a monthly fee (year round of $360 a month), this
includes the park upkeep, water, garbage, property taxes, ground
maintenance, security,etc.
This a pretty much standard deal...The Oregon
park we looked at was $350 a month. You will be responsible for your
utilities, water and electric, phone (cell phones are by far the option
of choice), Cable TV, etc. For
more details on basic costs.
Conclusion
Add park model mobile home living to your list of
options for frugal retirement living. You now have options that
float...an option that goes on the road ...and now this option. Think
of any great sacrificing to enjoy any of them?
Our good friends Doug and Judy, are so busy, with golfing, hiking, bike riding and other activities with their friends at the Park... We see more of them in Oregon in the summer
than we do in Arizona... we are only 60 miles apart!!
Folks
this is doable...you just have to keep an open mind...this flexibility
may have you enjoying life more than ever...when your initial driver
was how to live frugally. Enjoy!!
Live in a park model?...Share your story with us
Living in a park model mobile home is something few have thought about. Tell us your story about your favorite park community, the activities and what else made you choose where you live.
Your unique experience may be all it takes to encourage someone else to try this great and frugal lifestyle.
What Other Visitors Have Said About Park Model Living
Click below to see park model contributions from other visitors to this page...
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I hadn't considered living in a manufactured home before discovering a nice mobile home park just outside Yosemite. A place called the Grove, out of sight,...
Just moved to a park model in Florida
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My husband and I are in our late 40's and basically empty-nesters. I am "retired", my husband works for an airline 4 days on, 4 days off. We consider ourselves ...
